Dashcam video shows a Utah Highway Patrol trooper putting himself in harms way, intentionally colliding with a wrong-way driver on a freeway.
The highway patrol said a driver was going the wrong way Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 80 in Tooele, a few miles outside Salt Lake City.
Sgt. Chad McCoy said he had just finished his shift. As he was driving, he didn’t initially hear anything about the wrong way driver on his radio, but he noticed cars ahead of him moving to the right.
“And then this truck that was I noticed, oh, it’s facing the wrong direction. Then I realized it’s it’s actually traveling a pretty high rate of speed,” said McCoy.
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McCoy said he turned on his lights and siren in hopes of getting the wrong-way driver’s attention, but the driver didn’t pull over or stop.
“So I just tried to get the best angle that I could to try and get them to stop,” said McCoy.
McCoy said he got his car down to 15 mph before the collision.
The trooper said he is OK and that he was glad to be able to go home to his wife and four children.
The wrong-way driver, a 62-year-old man, reportedly had minor injuries. He had not been arrested or charged as of Thursday.
Utah Highway Patrol said wrong-way driving has been a significant issue, with 83 reports this year already compared to 141 all of last year.
